The nightmares at Jordan-Hare.
The Kick-6, the extra second on the clock before the half leading to an Auburn field goal, the ball bouncing off the back of a receiver being returned for a pick-6, the phantom holding call on O.J. Howard when the game appeared to be won and even in this game the first fumbled hold of a field goal snap and Auburn defensive backs mauling Alabama receivers with no flags.
Nick Saban’s 3-4 record there, two straight losses and three of the last four. If Saban can’t win at Auburn, then who the heck can for Alabama?
But all that may well have come to an end with the 2021 Incredible Iron Bowl Comeback.
The Tide did to the Tigers what the Tigers usually do to the Tide on the Plains – win in miraculous fashion at the end of the game. In fact, with Alabama backed up to its 3-yard-line and less than two minutes remaining the ESPN computer had Auburn’s chances of winning at 99.9%.
Except there was no fluke play, no late call that went their way, no crazy bounces of the ball.
It was pure and simple execution and incredible poise by the players that won this Iron Bowl. As a result, it may well have exorcised the demons that have long doomed the Tide in Jordan-Hare Stadium.
This was no Kick-6, it was a kick in the pants for Alabama fans.
On a day in which the usually-prolific Alabama offense had produced just three points in 58 1/2 minutes and with the starting running back out with an injury and the top receiver out with a targeting call, Bryce Young calmly led Alabama on a 97-yard drive in 95 seconds with no timeouts for the tying touchdown.
He connected on a freshman wide receiver who was one of those replacement players on a 28-yard touchdown and then helped Alabama outlast Auburn in four overtimes, the last two of which were played under college football’s new “it’s weird but that’s the rule” overtime.
And now, Alabama fans finally have a memory – a memorable moment of their own – in Jordan Scare for relish for years to come. It won’t make going there quite as intimidating as it has been in the past and the Auburn people won’t be quite so confident about their incredible home field advantage and magical power over the Tide, either.
The demons are done. At least for now, anyway.
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